Sports: Amir wants match-fixers banned for life

How ironic! Pakistani pace bowler Mohammad Amir will be playing his first Test since coming from a five-year spot-fixing ban, at Lord’s, where an infamous 2010 scandal landed him a jail term and the ban. Even while he prepares to return to Test cricket, he has backed comments from England captain Alastair Cook, who has commented that anyone caught match-fixing should be thrown out of the sport for good.

Mohammad Amir has been placed in Pakistan’s Test squad for the England tour that starts on July 14.

Amir considers himself lucky to re-don the Pakistan green cap. The left-arm fast bowler delivered deliberate no-balls in a Test match at Lord’s and was slapped with a five-year ban from all forms of cricket.

During his suspension for spot-fixing, Amir even spent some time in prison in England before being released for “good behavior.”

“To be honest, I never thought about my comeback and I feel seriously lucky to play Test cricket again,” Amir told AP as he prepared to leave for England on Saturday.

Recently Alastair Cook reportedly said that he did not have a problem with playing against Amir in the forthcoming series but the England skipper wanted life bans on fixers. Amir endorsed Cook’s views: “If anyone still hasn’t learnt a lesson from our cases then he will be foolish.”